The Open Studios event is timed to run alongside Walthamstow’s E17 Art Trail, run by artists every September.  I’m exhibiting at two venues this year.  I’ll have two sculptures at the Hornbeam Centre and will be opening my studio for the open studios, where I’ll be working on current projects and have sculptures in various stages of completion.  You can pick up an Art Trail guide at any participating venue, or download one from the website here: http://www.e17arttrail.co.uk/

Barbican Arts Group Trust Director Mark Wainwright says: “This is your chance to meet artists in their work environments, get insights into how and what they create, and even take home a work of art. Engage in one of the most exciting aspects of contemporary art by discussing art with the artists themselves. Stop by and enjoy, be inspired and perhaps challenged at this friendly, relaxed event.”

Mark added: “It is also a good opportunity to purchase original works at pre-gallery prices! Visitors will have the chance to buy an artwork by a Blackhorse Lane artist at a low price in Art In The Corridor, with 15% going to the Barbican Arts Group Trust for the ArtWorks Public Programme. A week before the event photos and details of the £40+ sale will be available on the Blackhorse Lane website.”

To find out more visit www.artworksproject.com.

Dandelion clock sculpture in progress

Making daffodil clock sculpture in the park

At Art & Seek on Sunday I took along some small sculptures and work in progress, and spent the day working on this dandelion clock sculpture.  The head is a sputnik-style lamp fitting that I found, and the seed heads are made from aluminium drinks cans.

There was a steady flow of interested visitors and lots going on all around the park – food, sculpture, performance, drawing, banner-making, craft stalls….  People picked up maps  and followed the trail, some answering the quiz questions to win a prize.  General response from the public was really good. It got people exploring different areas of the park and cemetery and being delighted and surprised by what they discovered – installations, projects, performances, stalls, people working happily and intently on interesting, beautiful and sustainable things. There was even banana and chocolate pizza being cooked in a pizza oven!

Hope to see you there!

Two recycled penguins

I’ve been making penguins from random bits and pieces.  Mostly empty paint tubs courtesy of Forest Recycling Project (via East London Community RePaint), but also tennis racquets, a kettle, light fittings, plastic bottles and coathangers and lots of other objects from reclamation yards and charity shops.

I made six in my studio with the help of Alice Power, a fellow artist, and am running penguin-making workshops in a yurt at London Zoo.  Some children made four new penguins to add to the expanding colony this weekend, and we’ll be making more from the 18th to the 22nd of December.  I’m aiming for at least 20.

I’m also busy making a lifesize recycled camel out of old bits of furniture.  It will be taken to the zoo in the next few days, where alongside the penguin-making I’ll be cladding it with hessian coffee sacks, also supplied by Forest Recycling Project.

From the 18th to the 22nd children can also make animal headdresses and masks to join in an animal parade which is part of London Zoo’s Christmas Carnival.

Tin drum upcycled Christmas Decoration

I recently made some recycled Christmas decorations for Recycle Now.  These are now up on their website and feature on e-cards which you can send to your friends.

Here’s the link:  Recycle Now Christmas 09

The Recycle Now Christmas campaign is trying to make people aware of the waste created at Christmas and remind them that most of it can be recycled.

Some Christmas facts:

- every year we use enough wrapping paper to stretch around the equator nine times.

- 1 billion Christmas cards are given out annually

You can find out more startling statistics with Recycle Now’s Festive Facts.

There’s also a fantastic cardboard Christmas tree which you can win by watching the video of it being made, then clicking to enter your email address.  If you win, it will be delivered to you on December 20th.  Here’s the video:

Cardboard Christmas Tree

Polystyrene hand

Originally uploaded by michelle3duk

I recently took part in a course for artists run by Emergency Exit Arts. They make giant puppets and create outdoor spectaculars with and for community groups, and are based in North Greenwich, London. I spent a day working with Tony Mason learning how to make puppet body parts from a variety of materials including plastazote and polystyrene. This larger-than-life polystyrene hand is one of the things I made on the day.

Recycled award

Originally uploaded by michelle3duk

I was asked to create an award by LCRN (London Community Resource Network) – their first ever award, for ‘Lifetime Achievement’, to be given to Cam Matheson. Amongst other things, Cam pioneered a scheme for the composting of food waste on the Nightingale Estate in Hackney.

This sculpture is about 30 centimetres tall. He’s made entirely from recycled materials, including an old bike light; bottle tops; bottle neck; plastic bags; tissue box; broom handle; coffee pot; ducting connector and aluminium cans.

The first is at the Changing Room Gallery in Lloyd Park, Walthamstow.  It opens on Monday (17th August) and runs until the 23rd.  A solo show of my recycled sculptures featuring The Mugridges. A recent commission for Epsom and Ewell Borough Council, The Mugridges are a family of four reproduced entirely from their own household waste, and are back in Walthamstow for a short visit.

Exhibition Opening Times:
Mon 17th August:   12:00 – 18:00
Tues 18th August:  12:00 – 16:00
Weds 19th August:  10:00 – 14:00
Thurs 20th August: 12:00 – 18:30
Fri 21st August:      12:00 – 18:30
Sat 22nd August:    12:00 – 17:00
Sun 23rd August:    12:00 – 17:00

Also coming up in September are the annual Open Studios at 114 Blackhorse Lane, Walthamstow, E17 6AA.  This is part of the E17 Arts Trail.

11th to 13th September 12:00 – 18:00

RedshankWWT

Originally uploaded by michelle3duk

This is the sculpture I made for the Recycled Sculpture Show at London Wetland Centre in Barnes. I used 3 types of venetian blind (wood, metal and plastic), plus lots of other recycled materials – e.g. shelf brackets for the beak, shower curtain hooks for the talons.

The exhibition is on until April 2010, and there’s lots of great work by other recycling artists too.  Well worth a visit!

http://www.recycledsculptureshow.co.uk/

Here’s the other sculpture I made in Hong Kong. A 3 metre tall rabbit. Both this and the chicken were made for an Easter exhibition in a shopping mall. Materials for this one include newspapers, envelopes, leaflets, tissue paper, plastic bags, juice cartons, fabric and cardboard pachaging.